photo: Anthony B. Creamer III

November 21 - The TMT Company

Back, left to right: David Moodey, Sime Viduka, "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Megan Schubert, Gelsey Bell, Dave Ruder,  John Hagan, Brian McCorkle, Aaron Siegel, Imani Uzuri, Kimberly Bartosik, Kimberly Young, Tom Hamilton, Betsy Ayer and Fast Forward.
Front: Samantha McHale, Amirtha Kidambi, Mimi Johnson, Bob Ashley, Samita Sinha, Aliza Simons, Madeline Wilcox and Paul Pinto.

other sides of fences

One of the great strengths of this production has been that it asks the singers to move, the movers to speak in song, the dancer to vocalize, and the four composer-performers in the back to dance sensitively. We've all been asked to concentrate on performative areas that we might not be used to focusing on, and everyone has risen to the occasion thoughtfully so that we're all a little closer together in discipline and I'm sure we'll all be better cross-discipline viewers & listeners.

I bring this up because for me, having a musical background, I'm now focused on how disciplines used to having a run of a show (and I mean a show, in which you're asked to take on more than just some notes or chords or whatever) probably produce performers who are more used to the end-of-the-run feeling than some of us are now. I'm sure withdrawal is withdrawal, and the sudden cessation of being asked to be a frog or a counter or a question answerer or a pose-replicator is always jarring, but I think theater and dance people are more used to it. It's been such a pleasure for me to figure out all these things, and by the nature of this piece, this weekend has been a terrifically thoughtful & fun time for me, and now I'm a little lost as to where to put my energy. Maybe I can try to find a good Chinese restaurant, or count three along with recordings of "Blue", or try to count along with the footsteps of pedestrians until their paths line up to my counts. Or maybe I'll just find a swamp to live in. I'm thrilled we got to perform as much as we did, but it's hard to leave!

November 20, between shows, the cast and crew cook veggie tacos.

Betsy Ayer, Dave Ruder, Sime Viduka, Megan Schubert, John Hagan, Paul Pinto

Faster than a speeding bullet,  Aliza Simons chops onions.

Dave Ruder, Megan Schubert, John Hagan, Paul Pinto.

Kimberly loves olives; Fast loves Kimberly.

Brian McCorkle and Esther Neff.

John H., Kim Young, Blue Gene, Sime Viduka, Dave Ruder, Kimberly Bartosik.

Fast Forward, Paul Pinto, Samantha McHale, Madeline Wilcox

Gelsey Bell, Dave Ruder, Kim Young, Megan Schubert, Aliza Simons, Aaron Siegel.

November 19 - The Men

Waiting to begin....
Dave Ruder, Brian McCorkle, John Hagan, Aaron Siegel, Paul Pinto

Act I: Frogs
The Company (John Hagan center)

Act III: Four Ways
Dave Ruder, Brian McCorkle, John Hagan, Fast Forward (foreground), Aaron Siegel, Paul Pinto
(with Madeline Wilcox and Kim Young)

Act III: Four Ways
Dave Ruder,  Brian McCorkle

Act III: Four Ways
Aaron Siegel, Paul Pinto

November 18 - Dress Rehearsal

Act I: Frogs
The Company 

Act II: A Cool, Well-Lighted Room
Imani Uzuri

Act I: Frogs
The Company

Act III: Four Ways
Foreground: Fast Forward, Aliza Simons
Background: Aaron Siegel, Paul Pinto, Kim Young

Act II: A Cool, Well-Lighted Room
Kimberly Bartosik

Technical Rehearsal at The Kitchen: November 17, 2011

The view from "Blue" Gene's keyboard.

Kim Young and Samita Sinha.

Stage manager, Betsy Ayer, adjusts Samita's battery pack.

Further photos from rehearsals at Douglas Dunn's studio this week. Now we move into the Kitchen theater to install and prepare for the upcoming performances beginning on saturday Nov 19!

Aaron Siegel, Gelsey Bell, Samita Sinha

Megan Schubert & Samantha McHale

Dave Ruder, Brian McCorkle, Jon Hagan, Aaron Siegel, 

Paul Pinto and Madeline Wilcox

l-r: Brian McCorkle, John Hagan, Megan Schubert, 

Samantha McHale, Paul Pinto, Kim Young, Samita Sinha, 

Gelsey Bell, Mimi Johnson, Amirtha Kidambi

Mimi Johnson & Madeline Wilcox

(Mimi standing in temporarily for Aliza Simons)

Rehearsal for Act II

We had an excellent rehearsal for Act II today. Act II includes Imani Uzuri, Blue Gene Tyranny and Kimberly Bartosik. Here are some happy portraits from after the fACT. What does it sound like? You'll just have to come to one of the performances . . . but you'll have to move fast .

Vocalist Imani Uzuri and synthesizer maestro Blue Gene Tyranny

Our technical and artistic Wizards Tom Hamilton and David Moodey

Vocalist Imani Uzuri with dancer Kimberly Bartosik

Yes, it's vocalist Imani Uzuri again, this time with the composer.

mid performance, Tom Hamilton, Kimberly Bartosik and Robert Ashley

New Postcard (Nancy Foote/By Design)